Repeated Observations of Northern Goshawks Foraging as Terrestrial Predators

• Published in: Journal of Raptor Research
• Main Author: Miller, Robert A.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: Northern Goshawk; Accipiter gentilis; behavior; diet; foraging; ground squirrels; Biology; Animal Sciences
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/ibo_facpubs/23; https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-16-106.1; https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/context/ibo_facpubs/article/1022/viewcontent/miller_robert_repeated_observations_of_northern_pub.pdf

The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis; hereafter goshawk) is a generalist predator occupying boreal and temperate forests of the Holarctic (Squires and Reynolds 1997). The diet of goshawks has been studied in many areas and varies substantially among study sites, but some avian and mammalian genera are consistently represented (Squires and Reynolds 1997, Squires and Kennedy 2006). Within the northern Great Basin of North America, the breeding-season diet of goshawks is often dominated by Belding's ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi, also known as Spermophilus beldingi; Younk and Bechard 1994, Miller et al. 2014). The local reliance upon an open-country prey species such as the Belding's ground squirrel is higher than in other locations where goshawk diet has been studied (see summary in Miller et al. 2014). This difference may be the result of, or may foster or necessitate variation in local foraging behavior.